This invention relates to a device for catching leave and grass for use on riding mowers.
Riding lawn mowers are widely used throughout the United States. These mowers are generally used for cutting the grass on large lawns, and further for clipping and mulching leaves, and other organic material on such lawns.
The large amount of grass and other clippings collected makes it necessary to provide means to contain the clippings on the mower, and to easily transfer the clippings to other containers for disposal. Many prior-art riding mowers provide a rigid container 38 attached to the end of a discharge tube 14, as shown in FIG. 1. A hood 10 attached to the discharge tube provides an attachment point for a container 38, which may be rigid, semi-rigid, or flexible. Many of the prior art containers are cloth or plastic bags, with reinforcing members to keep the containers open. Some containers are designed to hold disposable bags, which are replaced when full. In these prior art systems, the air pressure in the mower deck 18, created by the mower blades creates an air flow, maintained by a pressure differential, which carries the clippings up the discharge tube and into the container.
Most of the prior-art containers suffer from the same disadvantage, however: they don""t hold enough clippings to complete the job without emptying the container at least once before the job is completed, because the containers are not large enough. This is especially true when the mower is used to collect leaves in the fall, when the volume of material collected is substantially greater.
Increasing the container size offers several problems: first, if the container is suspended at the upper end of the discharge tube, the increased weight of a large container can destabilize the mower. Secondly, carrying a large container on the mower can be awkward, without increasing the size of the mower.
The present invention overcomes these problems by suspending a large, unsupported bag on the end of the discharge tube, which is inflated by the pressure of the air in the discharge tube. Because the bag drags on the ground behind the mower, its weight is partially supported by the ground, so that the mower does not become unstable as a result.
The method of attachment of the bag to the mower is simple and inexpensive, and will fit the mowers of a variety of manufacturers. Furthermore, the bag can be easily and quickly emptied and, if necessary, re-attached to the mower. Finally, the bag is easily folded into a small volume, and stored on a shelf or in a drawer.
It is a general object of the current invention to provide a leaf and grass catcher for a riding mower which has a substantially larger volume than currently-used leaf and grass catchers. It is a further general object to provide such a leaf and grass catcher which is inexpensive, easy to use, and does not require any modification of the riding mower to install. It is a specific object of the current invention to provide such a leaf and grass catcher in the form of a large bag, with pressure relief, which can be quickly and easily emptied, and which fits a wide variety of different riding mowers.
In accordance with one aspect of the current invention, a leaf and grass catcher for a riding mower of the type which contains a discharge tube having an upper end, includes a substantially conical bag having a first end and a second end, with an opening at each end. The bag is of sufficient size to touch the ground when attached at the first end in proximity to the discharge tube. The invention includes means for attaching the bag about the upper end of the discharge tube, and means for opening and closing the second end of the bag.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, whereby the mower creates an area of increased air pressure in proximity with the upper end of the discharge tube, the invention includes means to decrease the increased air pressure in the bag.
In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, the means for decreasing the increased air pressure consists of a mesh area contained in the surface of the bag.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the invention, in which the mower includes a hood, the means for attaching the bag about the upper end of the discharge tube includes means to attach the bag about the hood.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the invention, the means of attaching the bag about discharge tube includes drawstring disposed about the opening in the first end of the bag.
In accordance with a sixth aspect of the invention, the means of attaching the bag about discharge tube includes a cleat attached to the bag in proximity to the opening at the upper end of the bag. The cleat containing at least two holes through which the draw string passes, so that the each end of the drawstring passes from the inside of the bag through one of the holes in the cleat, through the outside of the bag, and around the cleat.
In accordance with a seventh aspect of the invention, the cleat is attached to the bag by two or more rivets, each rivet containing a hole through which the drawstring may be lead.
In accordance with a eighth aspect of the invention, a reinforced area attached to the first end of the bag in proximity to the opening at the first end, through which the drawstring passes.
In accordance with a ninth aspect of the invention, the means for opening and closing the second end of the bag includes a drawstring disposed about the opening at the second end of the bag.
In accordance with a tenth aspect of the invention, the means of opening and closing the second end of the bag includes a cleat attached to the bag in proximity to the second end. The cleat contains at least two holes through which the draw string passes, so that the each end of the drawstring passes from the inside of the bag through one of the holes in the cleat, through the outside of the bag, and around the cleat.
In accordance with an eleventh aspect of the invention, the means for opening and closing the second end of the bag includes loop-and-hook fasteners.